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Touch-A-Truck draws big crowd for crime prevention programs

May 12, 2018 | 5:56 PM

Central Albertans of all ages had a chance on Saturday to check out some cool vehicles they normally wouldn’t get a chance to.

The 3rd Annual Touch-A-Truck event was held at the Crossroads Church just west of Red Deer and was hosted by the Central Alberta Crime Prevention Centre (CACPC), to recognize May as Crime Prevention Month.

Located in downtown Red Deer on 48 Street, the CACPC is described as a one-stop shop for accessing crime prevention programs and services. It’s comprised of partner organizations such as the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch, Central Alberta Crime Stoppers, Red Deer City Citizens on Patrol, the Red Deer chapter of MADD and Red Deer Neighbourhood Watch.

Executive Director Terry Lee Ropchan hopes those that attend have some fun and learn a little bit more about the programs and services they offer.

“If anybody is having any issues in their neighbourhood and they need a little bit of help, we’re that one-stop shop that they can come and get some information and we can help them out,” says Ropchan. “We have lots of events, so over the summer you’ll see us out doing bbq’s, we’ll be down at the Saturday market. We’re kind of out and about all the time and so we’re looking for those volunteers that want to come and help us out and be active and we’re also still looking for board members.”

According to Ropchan, there are a number of steps people can take in addition to reporting all suspicious activity to police that would help prevent themselves from being a victim of crime.

“We want to encourage people to make sure they remove all of their belongings from their vehicles, tuck them in the trunk or take them with you,” suggests Ropchan. “Make sure that all of your doors are locked, don’t leave your car running, even for one minute. The same things apply at home, so make sure that your home is locked, know your neighbours, when we know each other, we tend to look out for each other.”

Roughly 50 exhibitors took part in the 3rd Annual Touch-A-Truck event on May 12. It featured everything from tractors to firetrucks to police vehicles, buses, snow plows, street sweepers, garbage trucks, cranes and more.